AL West Notes: Athletics, Ohtani, Luhnow, Rangers Infield

Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle takes an interesting look at the future of the Athletics’ baseball operations and field leadership. She cites “increasing speculation in baseball circles and among those who know the A’s higher-ups” that the existing combination of VP of baseball ops Billy Beane, GM David Forst, and manager Bob Melvin may not be maintained past the 2019 campaign. The club is not obligated contractually beyond next season to Beane or Melvin, with the notable exception of Beane’s small stake in the team itself — a potential future wrinkle to keep in mind. Forst’s contract status is not publicly known. As Slusser explains, there’s a general sense that change is afoot in Oakland, though the direction (let alone the outcome) is not yet clear. It’s a worthwhile examination of the A’s organization that you’ll want to read for yourself to appreciate fully.

Here’s more from the AL West:

The Angels continue to emphasize that the next steps for injured superstar Shohei Ohtani will not be decided until his sprained elbow ligament has a chance to respond to recent treatment. That said, manager Mike Scioscia says there’s significant internal optimism that the news will be good, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports (Twitterlinks). For the time being, Ohtani is limited to taking some swings with his left arm. It’ll still be two or three weeks until more is known.

Astros owner Jim Crane and newly-promoted president of baseball operations Jeff Luhnow discussed their plans for the future after announcing a new contract for Luhnow yesterday, as MLB.com’s Christian Boutwell writes. Crane says that Luhnow deserves “a lot of the credit” for the club’s World Series win last year and promising future outlook. It’s the possibility of a sustainable run of success, meanwhile, that has Luhnow excited. “[T]his next phase of keeping this organization at its high level for an extended period of time, that’s what drives me, that challenge,” he said. Despite his new title, Luhnow will continue to function as the general manager and will hang onto that label as well, though he says he’ll be willing to hand it off to someone else if that proves necessary. Luhnow also suggested that there’s a strong commitment to skipper A.J. Hinch, whose contract expires after the current season but seems likely to be extended at some point.

The Rangers have a crowded infield mix now with Elvis Andrus re-joining the active roster. As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News explains, the organization hopes to keep all of its primary options on the field quite often, allowing Jurickson Profar to continue receiving ample opportunities while also letting Rougned Odor work through his struggles at the plate. Skipper Jeff Banister says this will be accomplished by utilizing third baseman Adrian Beltre as a DH with some frequency and allowing Andrus some extra rest. Utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa, meanwhile, is going to attempt to add to his versatility by suiting up behind the dish, as Grant tweets. It’ll be interesting to see how this situation plays out for the struggling Rangers, who could weigh trades involving several of these players. In particular, Beltre (who’ll be a free agent at season’s end) and Andrus (who can opt out of his contract) seem to be plausible candidates.

Too big of a deal was made about this. Rarely do players sign extensions with <1 yr of service time. If he refuses an extention as he closes in on arbitration, then sure you can maybe start to wonder. Until then, don't buy into it.

Beane has won exactly nothing up to this point and the A’s are in a constant state of spinning their wheels year in and year out until they trade away their best players. Beane has always been overrated.

Agreed.
He’s living off his sabermetrics fame and early ‘00s success.
Sabermetrics sophistication passed him by years ago and his early ‘00s success had more to do with Mulder, Hudson, and Zito than his “brilliant” GM moves.

Kind of an odd point you’re trying to make(?) as Tim hudson, Mark Mulder, & Barry Zito were all products of Billy Beane’s first three amateur drafts as GM. Tough to figure who would be more to thank for those selections that the guy who ultimately made them.

It would be interesting to see what Beane could do under a different ownership group. It seems like current ownership likes the fact that he keeps the team respectable on a shoestring budget. Beane does make more good trades than bad. The A’s are in a state of perpetual rebuild, and the fan base rarely gets a glimpse of a mature team before the sell offs and churn usher in another generation.

Yes, his status is hyped by the movie, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s continued to do a very nice job for nearly two decades.
If they got rid of him, he would get a record breaking contract elsewhere.
While the mets and o’s ownership is too hands on for him, I wouldnt be shocked to see Bridich get the boot in Colorado, and Beane brought in to get creative. I could see Jeter trying to get him in Miami too.

The problem for the A’s is the only way they can keep guys is if they sign team friendly deals and no player in there right mind would sign a team friendly deal with the A’s because it just makes them a more valueable trade asset. Until the A’s get a owner that is willing to spend some money on the team to keep some players they going to be stuck in this perpetual cycle or bring them up and trade them. The Bay Area fans will support the A’s if they put a product on the field that is worth something. A couple years ago when they put a winning product on the field the fans showed up, the A’s have always been near the top in merchandise but near the bottom in attendance. There a lot of A’s fans but they don’t want to support a losing team. And the excuse of no one wants to go to the coliseum is false it is probably the easiest stadium in the country to get to and it’s not that bad of a stadium don’t get me wrong it’s a dump compared to most modern stadiums but it’s not that bad for the fans. In short if the A’s can get an owner that is willing to spend money then they have a chance but if things don’t change they stand no chance.

I dunno.. I think that stadium is an armpit and the area around it is awful, which is a huge reason why fans don’t show up. It’s got the biggest foul lines you’ll ever see. They could grow corn out there. Zero amenities, mediocre at best food, no personality.The traffic on 880 right next to it is outrageous. You can take BART if you live somewhat nearby, but people from the South Bay aren’t going to deal with that traffic and the SF crowd has the best ballpark in the world in their backyard.

Exactly, it’s not Beane’s fault by any means! If ownership is frugal using the excuse that they need a new stadium to produce revenues then Billy can only do so much! I think Beane, Frost and Bomel are the right people for the A’s no question about it! Thing is, will ownership see that on the long run?

Ownership will make whatever move is necessary to save money regardless of how it impacts the team. Fisher is no better than Jeffrey Loria was for the Marlins. He is the A’s version of Rachel Phelps from the movie Major League.